The fate of the Clarence Brown Education Center will be known this week as four school boards vote on a recommendation to close the school.

The school, founded almost 35 years ago, provides alternative and emotional support for special needs students.

The Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV of Grove City has recommended closing the school by June 30 because of a lack of funds.

The Seneca Valley, Moniteau and Karns City school boards all will take up the school closing issues at their meetings tonight. The South Butler School Board will do the same Wednesday night.

The Mars School Board last Tuesday followed the MIU recommendation and voted to close Clarence Brown.

Those five school districts own and maintain the building on Pittsburgh Pike Road in Butler and send students there.

The school has been looking at its financial needs to remain open with a feasibility study done three years ago, according to Eric Ritzert, Karns City superintendent.

MIU recommends the closure of the school, said Wayde Killmeyer, the executive director of the MIU.

However, that decision is up to the five districts.

Ritzert said the school needs a new roof and other renovations, projects that would cost more than $1 million.

“Economically, it’s not sensible to continue to operate,” Ritzert said.

A major factor is low student enrollment, which impacts finances. The school’s budget for the year is $858,737, according to the intermediate unit.

The school had 42 students during the 2014-2015 year, Killmeyer said. But after Butler School District opened its own alternative and emotional needs school at the former Center Avenue Elementary School last summer, enrollment at Clarence Brown dropped to 15 students, Killmeyer said.

Five of those students are expected to graduate this spring.

This loss of students means the tuition for each student now dramatically increases, Killmeyer said.

“It’s not a huge school to begin with,” he said.

But the operating costs remain high, meaning Clarence Brown is no longer sustainable, he said.

For this school year, Karns City has three students at Clarence Brown and will pay roughly $175,000, Ritzert said.

Two students from South Butler attend the school, with a cost of about $66,000, said Superintendent David Zupsic.

The Moniteau School District also has two students attending Clarence Brown, but their cost was not immediately available, said Superintendent George Svolos. Mars has one student attending. Information on how many students from Seneca Valley attend Clarence Brown was not immediately available.

As for the 7 full-time and 9 part-time employees at Clarence Brown, they may be moved to other positions in the intermediate unit since they are union employees, Killmeyer said.

“We’ve seen (the possibility of closing) on the horizon so we’ve been very careful with staffing,” he said.

For many schools, the biggest priority is determining where students with alternative education needs can attend class, according to Ritzert and Svolos.

“It’s unfortunate and I’m disappointed that this is where we’re at,” Ritzert said.

The Joint Operating Committee for Clarence Brown, which has members from each of the five districts, will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the school, 1104 Pittsburgh Pike Road.

A public hearing regarding the closing is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 2 at the school.